


The Bucky Barnes Hug Fest

by Little_Plebe



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 15:23:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8538214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Plebe/pseuds/Little_Plebe
Summary: Vision started it and now Bucky is about to get a lot of unwanted love from his friends.





	1. Vision

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Joey99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joey99/gifts).



> I blame you for this piece of crack. It's a little rough around the edges. Actually, it's not just the edges, the entire thing is rough and unpolished (I kinda wrote it in a day) but I hope you enjoy it anyway. You're the best, Joey.

Two super soldiers made their way to the kitchen after their early morning run, looking forward to a quiet breakfast before everyone else woke up. They were surprised to find someone already there, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.

Vision looked up and immediately put his coffee and paper down. “Captain Rogers. Sergeant Barnes.”

Steve said hi. Bucky merely grunted.

Vision rose from his chair, walked up to Bucky and said, “My central processing system and vast knowledge base tells me that there’s a powerful solution to relieve pain, depression and anxiety. Do you mind if I give it to you?”

Bucky exchanged a mystified glance with Steve.

“Er… sure, yeah.”

Vision nodded, stepped into his space and put his arms around Bucky in what could only be constituted as a hug. It felt weird, robotic, not like a hug at all, but most of all, it was startling. The super soldier stood as stiff as a board while his best friend looked on, nonplussed.

 _What the hell_ , Bucky mouthed to Steve, who shrugged.

“Okay,” Vision said, pulling away with a smile. “I’ll be sure to give you a dose every morning. Good day, gentlemen.”

He floated away, leaving Bucky staring after him in bewilderment.


	2. Thor

“James, my dear friend!”

Only one person in the tower called him James.

“Oh, hey, Thor. What’s oof—”

His nose bumped into the giant blonde’s shoulder as he found himself the recipient of a bone breaking hug. Daily hugs from Vision weren’t enough that now he had to endure this too?

He tried to push Thor, who had an unsurprisingly firm and crushing grip.

“Relax, friend James. Vision tells me this is the solution to pain and anxiety. Let me help you.”

Jesus Christ!

“I’m fine, Thor,” Bucky wheezed. “I feel fine.”

“Already?” The soldier breathed a sigh of relief when Thor pulled back to look at him happily. “Well now that’s excellent. I can’t wait to tell my Jane. She’ll want to try it as well.”

Bucky’s eyes widened. “No, no, it’s—”

“Your troubles are our troubles. We shall get through these difficult times together, my friend.”

If by ‘difficult times’ he meant Bucky’s newly broken rib, there was nothing the demigod could do about that. Bucky winced. What had Vision started?


	3. Scott

“I’m sad.”

Bucky eyed Scott suspiciously. The man was a drama queen and a bit of a troll, not to be trusted one bit. “What do you want, tic-tac?”

“Just friendship and comfort.”

Bucky nodded. He was good at friendship. That, he could totally provide. No cuddling though, that was out of question.

Scott sighed. “And maybe a hug. Vision says—”

Bucky stood up suddenly, murder-y face on. He knew exactly what Scott was trying to do. “Screw Vision and whatever he says! I’m going to kill him!”

“Aww, Buck, you’re so cute when you get angry.” Scott stood up and moved toward him. Bucky stared at him. Wasn’t Scott scared of him at all? His metal hand could crush him to dust. “Come on, let’s hug it out. You’ll feel better.”

Before Bucky could protest or push Scott away in disgust, he was wrapped up in a tight embrace. Arms hanging at his sides and eyes set in a glare, Bucky growled in Scott’s ears, “Was it an act or are you really sad?”

“Nope,” replied Scott cheerfully. Bucky had no idea what ‘nope’ meant.

“You’re full of shit, Ant-man.”

“Yep.”


	4. Bruce, Jane and Helen

Bucky stuck his head into the science lab. “Hey, Bruce, you wanted me for something?”

“Yes, come in and stand here.”

Well, that was an odd request. But he would be crazy to argue with or question the man who could turn into the incredible Hulk. Once in place, Bruce attached two wires on either side of Bucky’s forehead. Jane, Darcy and Helen were present as well and Bucky wondered what sort of an experiment they were going to do on him. He wasn’t worried; he trusted Stark’s breed of scientists but labs always made him queasy. Also, Darcy was there and he didn’t want her to see if he reacted negatively to something.

“Jane, go ahead,” said Bruce, and to Bucky’s immense surprise, Jane Foster stepped up and hugged him.

“Is this a joke?” he asked over the top of Jane’s head.

“We’re studying your brain’s responses to hugs. If Vision’s theory is correct…” Bucky zoned Bruce out as Helen joined in the hug. All this was Vision’s doing. He really _was_ going to kill that red skinned genius former-android. He stood rather still, his expression melting from dangerous to annoyed to resigned as Bruce joined in the awkward group hug as well.

When they had the readings they wanted, the scientists stepped back from squishing him and Helen slapped his ass before walking away. “Nice tush.”

Bucky turned to a giggling Darcy, sadly the only person in the room who hadn’t hugged him, and mumbled, “Did she just?”

Well, he couldn’t exactly say that he hated it.


	5. Clint and Wanda

Wanda and Clint were next. They were more subtle about it though, for which Bucky was eternally grateful because (Clint was okay but) the Scarlet Witch kind of freaked him out. He had a good idea of what her powers could do to him if she wanted to hurt him.

It was movie night and that usually meant drinks and more drinks. Thor had stopped bringing the Asgardian mead because it made people go crazy, especially Tony and Darcy, who forgot all boundaries when they were exceptionally drunk. Tony was never a pretty sight. Darcy, though, that’s a different matter entirely. In the wake of the absence of the Asgardian mead, Sam and Natasha had started breaking into Tony’s private stash. The billionaire grumbled about it but Bucky thought he secretly enjoyed the freedom his fellow Avengers took with his possessions.

Bucky sat between Clint and Wanda as an angsty tear jerker played on the screen. Clint could hold his alcohol really well. Wanda couldn’t. She scooted closer and laid a hand on Bucky’s knee, smiling drunkenly up at him when he looked at her in question.

“Sad movie,” she slurred, sniffing a little. “Can I?”

She pointed to his chest and Bucky had no idea what she meant by that. “Er… what?”

She huffed impatiently and grabbed his arm, swinging it around her shoulders and placing her head on his chest. “Mmm, warm.”

Bucky was officially freaked out. That was the Scarlet Witch right there, one of the deadliest people he knew, cuddled into him like a little girl. Before he could give it much thought or consider if he should squeeze her shoulder for comfort, he felt Clint’s arm go around him in a side hug.

“Thanks, buddy,” he whispered. “She usually falls asleep after cuddles. You can relax.”


	6. Natasha

He had gotten used to the hugs now, accepting a good number (around ten or so) _daily_. As the weeks passed and the love continued pouring in, he realized he wasn’t as averse to hugs as he initially was. They felt nice, not that he would admit that out loud, but he hadn’t killed Vision yet, so that kind of said a lot about his stance on randomly going up to hug him at any time of the day.

However, when Natasha pulled him aside after a particularly intense mission, Bucky expected anything _but_ a hug from the Black Widow. She was surprisingly gentle for someone who was absolutely brutal out on the field. Deliberately placing his hands on her waist and pulling his face into the crook of her neck, Natasha wrapped her arms around him and hugged him for close to two minutes. It left him feeling a little disoriented and light-headed afterward.

“Make a note, F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Nat said as she walked away like nothing had happened. “Two minutes.”


	7. Sam and Steve

Sam laughed at his sullen expression. “So let me get this straight. You’re upset not about being cuddled on a regular basis—”

“I don’t get cuddled!”

“—but about Darcy Lewis not having eagerly partaken in the Bucky Barnes hug fest like you hoped?” Sam laughed harder at Bucky’s annoyed grunt. “Steve, you hearing this?”

Steve looked up from his book, disinterest written all over his face. The punk was probably jealous everyone loved Bucky more than they loved Cap. Sam went all ‘awwww, come here, Barnes’ and literally jumped on him, tightening his muscled arms around him in a headlock. “Help,” Bucky rasped at Steve, because Sam was stronger than he looked. Steve shook his head, sighed, came over, and instead of dragging Sam away, the big lug wrapped himself around both men and squeezed harder. What a troll!


	8. Tony and Rhodey

Bucky was rounding the corner to the gym when he heard Tony and Rhodey arguing inside. He entered anyway. Screw privacy. The gym was a public area.

“What’s the gist, physicist?” He grinned at both men as he situated himself before the punching bag.

Tony looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. As much as Bucky liked to scare him, staring menacingly at Tony and deliberately cleaning his knives when the billionaire was around wasn’t as much fun as surprising him in the gym with his shirt off, ready to box his ears off if approached. Bucky would never hit Tony but he didn’t need to know that.

He heard Tony whisper fearfully to Rhodey, “Pepper will kill me if I do this.”

“She’s miles away in Washington. Just do it, Tony. You won’t rest until you do.”

Did they think he couldn’t hear them? Bucky had better hearing than average humans, or had Tony forgotten that piece of fact? He straightened when he heard shuffling behind him and turned to see Tony hiding behind Rhodey.

“Barnes.”

Bucky nodded. “Rhodes. Let me guess, Vision sent you and now you want to join in the Bucky Barnes hug fest?”

Rhodey was shocked. “You know about that?”

People had been coming up to hug him for weeks now. If he hadn’t figured out their plan, he was either stupid or dead. Bucky was neither. “Uh… sure. Let’s get this over with. I need to punch something after.”

Tony whimpered uncharacteristically from behind his friend and Bucky bit back a laugh. Rhodey bestowed a manly hug on him and then stepped back to let Tony do the same. Tony fixed nervous eyes on Bucky, then took a tiny step forward followed by a pause and then another tiny step. “I don’t do hugs, I don’t do hugs,” he mumbled under his breath as if he was reminding himself.

Bucky raised his eyebrows at Rhodey over Tony’s shoulder. The colonel shrugged and rolled his eyes. Bucky imitated the gesture, then impatiently grabbed Tony’s arms and dragged him in for a good squeeze. He was the first person till now that Bucky had initiated a hug with and he was also the first person Bucky had willingly cuddled (aside from pre-serum Steve, of course) because, according to Bucky, Tony Stark was more in need of hugs and comfort than anyone else in the tower. Poor guy was always overlooked because of his confident ‘don’t-need-your-help’ personality.

Unable to help the troll inside him, Bucky winked at Rhodey and deliberately tightened his arms around Tony. As predicted, Tony squawked and pushed at him, stumbling a little in his haste to get away.

Bucky smirked. “You thought I was going to squish you to death?”

Tony narrowed his eyes. “You punched a hole through my armor.”

“Sorry?” In Bucky’s defense, he was relapsing. Tony wasn’t holding that against him, was he? That was months ago!

“Whatever,” said Tony. “But I’m winning the hug fest.”

That made zero sense. Hug fest was just a name Sam had invented. It wasn’t actually a ‘fest’. Bucky nodded carelessly and said, “Yeah, sure.”


	9. Darcy

The lab was full and noisy when Bucky entered, something that he had never witnessed before. The science lab was always quietly functioning unless it was exploding. And at that moment, it wasn’t exploding. Except it _was_ … with people. Bucky frowned. He was there to see Darcy and make yet another attempt to invoke sympathy in her enough to give him a hug. He didn’t want her sympathy but if that was the only way to get her to touch him, so be it. She still hadn’t approached him and it kinda hurt.

Steve and Sam had left him earlier citing ‘lots of paperwork’. Natasha had told him that she was going out with Clint. Thor said he was going to Asgard for ‘official God business that couldn’t be put off’ and the gym was deserted as well. No one to spar with. Even Scott, annoying that he was, was nowhere to be found.

And there everyone was—all Avengers and the science team—arguing loudly about something. Bucky stood outside the lab in surprise and mild alarm, wondering what was going on and why he wasn’t invited to the team squabble. He heard Natasha’s normally calm voice say heatedly,

“Two minutes, Thor, I hugged him for two minutes. I have proof. F.R.I.D.A.Y., tell them.”

“I’m the God of Thunder.”

“Wow, Thor, great argument, buddy,” intoned Scott drily. “Look, Bucky comforted me when I was sad…”

“Sad, my ass.” That was Wanda. “I’ve never seen you act anything other than irritatingly happy. Don’t make this into something it isn’t.”

“Yes, but he said I was full of shit. Come on, that _had_ to make him happy.”

“It probably did, but it doesn’t count,” said Clint.

So they were arguing about him. It still didn’t make complete sense in his head, so he decided to eavesdrop some more.

Helen spoke up. “I slapped his tushie. Darcy said he liked it. Does that count?”

“Dammit, Helen! Add Helen’s name to the board.”

Vision wrote something on a whiteboard. Currently, there were only three names on the board.

_Vision, the adorable genius who started it all.  
Natasha, two minutes!  
Helen slapped his ass and he liked it._

Bucky was more interested in the words at the top of the whiteboard – _Bucky Barnes Hug Fest_. He stared at the words slack-jawed. What the actual hell?

“Maybe we should have had a kissing contest,” sighed Wanda. “Kissing is so much easier to judge.”

Rhodey snorted. “You expect us to kiss Barnes? Jesus, Wanda.”

“All right, that’s enough,” Steve commanded. Bucky was proud of the punk. He was going to put an end to this bullshit. “Sam and I are his best friends. We’re the obvious winners.”

“Damn right!” cheered Sam.

“What?” exclaimed Tony, looking incredulous. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. The obvious winner is _me_. I was the only one who was cuddled and squeezed and probably subtly threatened by Barnes all at once. And I didn’t even want to do it. Also, when I said I’m winning the hug fest, _he said yes_!”

Without anyone’s prompting, Clint silently added Tony’s name to the whiteboard, while Jane Foster asked, “He knows about the hug fest?”

Bruce shook his head sadly. “Oh, this isn’t good.”

That’s when Bucky decided to make his presence known, because enough is enough. “Damn right it isn’t good!” He strode in and stood before the now fearfully mute group, placing his hands on his hips and glaring darkly. “What the hell is going on?”

Steve looked sheepish, Tony scampered away to hide behind Rhodey again, Thor was smiling as if nothing was wrong, the scientists looked embarrassed and slightly guilty, rest everyone was shamelessly unrepentant. He couldn’t see Darcy anywhere and tamped down the disappointment he felt at that. She had never wanted to be a part of the hug fest. What would she do there anyway?

“Barnes, good, you’re here,” said Natasha, sauntering toward him with purpose. “You can decide the winner.”

Bucky loomed over her. “Are you even sorry for this shit you lot pulled on me?”

“Hey,” blurted Tony defensively. “It’s for a good cause. We… we just…”

He trailed away and Thor picked up, “We wanted you to be happy, James.”

Bucky arched a brow at Steve. “They were just trying to help, Buck.”

“They?”

“We,” corrected Steve with a smirk.

“But you were betting money on it,” accused Bucky.

All the men nodded, even Bruce. “There’s no fun without money.”

Well, Bucky couldn’t argue with that. He looked at Tony’s head popping out from behind Rhodey’s shoulders, ‘please don’t tell Pepper’ written all over his face, and Bucky couldn’t help the snort of laughter that bubbled out of him at the expression on his face.

His sudden laugh set everyone at ease, smiles breaking onto their faces, and then the smiles turned into relieved snorts and pretty soon the whole lab filled with the sound of laughter. Natasha pushed Bucky toward the whiteboard but he shook his head resolutely. He wasn’t choosing a winner. That was just stupid.

“Come on, Bucky,” whined Scott. “There’s a lot of money involved. We need a winner, even if you think all of us are winners or some such shit.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Very mature.” He already knew what he was going to do. All these people here were his friends. Good friends. If they wanted a winner, he’d give them a winner. When he said, “Okay, I’ll choose,” the room fell silent with excitement and anticipation. Sam’s face was scrunched up in concentration, probably counting the total betting amount in his head. The moron. He wasn’t going to take this well.

“Darcy,” Bucky finally said. “It’s Darcy.”

There was uproar as everyone started speaking at once. Bucky quickly ducked out of the lab, having done his duty and not wanting to be a part of the fight. It was their problem now. They would quiet down after a while anyway. He caught Sam’s sour face and the knowing glint in Steve’s eyes as he left. They wouldn’t out him. They were his best friends. But he would definitely have to prepare for a blow or two in the head from Sam.

 

A day later, there was a knock on his door and he opened it to see Darcy standing there, looking lost. She thrust a paper at him. It was her bank account statement. The final entry under ‘Winner of Bucky Barnes Hug Fest’ nearly made his eyes bug out. Scott wasn’t kidding when he said a lot of money was involved.

“You have any idea what this is?” Darcy asked him.

“Um… you won.”

She pursed her lips and shot him a deliberately blank look. “That’s bullshit! You know I haven’t… I mean, we haven’t…” She paused, flustered, and Bucky thought she was the cutest thing ever. “Look, this is a lot of money and I don’t deserve it.”

“I think you deserve more.” It was the truth. People should be paying her just because she existed. She was wonderful. He was making her blush and more than a little uncomfortable, so he said, “Well, tell them the truth, then.”

She shook her head in frustration. “I can’t. They won’t believe me.” _Because I’m the only one who didn’t participate_ went unsaid.

“What do you want me to do?” He wasn’t about to tell her that he had chosen her even though she must have probably already guessed. And he wasn’t about to go to Tony and tell him he had changed his mind about the winner. That would make him look plain stupid. Plus, it would start another crazy hug fest and—he totally enjoyed the hugs but—he wanted them to be casual, not deliberate and involving money.

“Maybe you should give me a hug,” he found himself saying nervously. “It might lessen the guilt of winning.”

She looked as nervous as he felt and, for a second, he thought she might refuse and walk away, but she nodded and stepped forward uncertainly. Bucky tossed the account statement on the shelf by the door and waited patiently for her to come to him. His fingers twitched with the urge to pull her to him but he remained fairly still, heart thumping wildly in his chest.

He bent dutifully when she reached him, so that she could put her arms around his neck. The faint smell of her shampoo tickled his senses and Bucky squirmed uneasily. His hands came to rest on her waist and it was neither enough nor comfortable. Darcy was standing stiff as well and he was worried she would pull away without them getting the chance to hug properly. So, throwing caution to the wind, he wound his arms around her, pulling her flush against him, and buried his face into her neck, breathing a sigh of relief when she squeaked but didn’t stop him.

Hugging Darcy was the best feeling ever. She was incredibly soft and warm, and he could literally feel her curves molding to the hard ridges of his body. Her stubby little fingers carded through his hair and Bucky bit back a moan. She felt perfect against him, almost like she was made for him. The thought terrified him a little and he pulled back to look at her face. His arms remained around her, not ready to let her go yet.

“Why didn’t you join the hug fest?”

If she noticed his tone laced with hurt, she didn’t say anything. In fact, she seemed surprised by the abrupt question. “I… I didn’t think you’d want… I mean, I’m just an intern and you’re… you’re _you_ and… I don’t know.”

Bucky pulled her to him again, extremely pleased with her agitated response. “You’re silly. Don’t ever think that again. Okay?”

“Okay,” she echoed, happily hugging him back.

After a while, he murmured in her hair, “You deserve to be the winner, Darcy, because you’re definitely the best so far.”

She giggled and held him tighter.

 

He still got hugs every day but there were no more hug fests, no more bets and no more arguments. Vision was right. The hugs really did help with the pain and anxiety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come find me on [tumblr](http://littleplebe.tumblr.com/). We can chat about books, movies, Marvel, chocolate cakes... I'm cool with anything. It's always nice to hear from new people.


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